MASTERFUL HANDS

Man quite the week this week I don't even know where to start. 

We had our last exchange of the transfer and got to call out transfer calls with President which was kinda fun! I am going to Steng Mean Chay 1/3 and will be companions with Sister Sok, we will be SSTL's. We couldn't move her to this area because it is too close to her home. I will really miss the area that I am in right now but am looking forward to it.

As far as our baptisms go this week it was quite the process but we made it! Bong Ny, Canly and Lina all got baptized this week and it was the happiest! Towards the beginning of the week we weren't so sure we were going to have a baptism. 

Canly met with us on wednesday and said "Can I just learn and not get baptized I am so scared and I just don't want to do it anymore" Luckily we got a member in on the lesson who answered all her concerns and helped her feel more comfortable about baptism, after that it was smooth sailing with her and she was so happy the day of her baptism! That member was vital!

Lina had an interview scheduled for wednesday but when we called her, her mom had come to phnom penh and took her out to battambang and they were heading to thailand on saturday the day before the baptism. She barely made it back to phnom penh at 4:30 on sunday, got interviewed and then baptized at 5 - it was crazy and stressful but so happy! She just could not stop smiling the entire evening. 

Srei Pov is literally the smartest person I have ever met. She is crazy, we were teaching the 10 commandments this week and she was like "Sisters this is so easy I have already read this in the Book of Mormon" and she then explained it all to us. She is already in Alma and is right on track to finish the book of mormon by next week. She is very smart and it is so fun to teach her.

We had Tad R. Callister come to speak to us this week which was way cool.  He taught us how to better teach the Plan of Salvation.

I was reading in Jacob 5 this morning and I loved verse 47 "But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?"

I know that as we are laboring in the Lord's vineyard He is laboring with us and walking right beside us. He is doing absolutely everything in His power to help us and to save everyone but ultimately it is still up to us to choose to accept His help and His refining. This reminded me of something I read recently.

"Our Lord is like the dentists...dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of...Well He will cure it alright: but He will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if you once called Him in He will give you the full treatment.

"...'Make no mistake' He says, 'if you let Me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it cost Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect - until My Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said he was well pleased with Me. This I can do and will do. But nothing less.'

"...You must realize from the outset that the goal toward which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. That is what you are in for. And it is very important to realize that."

There is no one in the entire universe that can rob us of perfection, except ourselves. The Lord literally is doing every single thing that He can to help guide us to perfection and our Heavenly home, but it is up to us and our agency to put ourselves in those masterful hands and let Him shape and mold us into who we need to become to enter into His presence. It will not be easy, life is never easy but it will be worth it. Let us all choose to put ourselves in His hands and allow Him to shape us into the Heavenly beings He knows we can become!

Love, 

Sister Stratford